1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an air conditioner having an air filter for collecting dust, the air filter being located inside an air suction inlet in a casing of an interior unit. More particularly, the invention relates to the air conditioner in which dust adhered to the air filter can be collected while being sterilized and deodorized.
2. Background Art
An air conditioner (an interior unit) is provided with a filter for collecting dust, to prevent the dust from flowing into the air conditioner through an air suction inlet. Generally, this filter is detachably mounted on the interior unit, so that a user can dismount and clean the filter as appropriate. The filter can be re-mounted by the user, after being cleaned.
However, the related art has various disadvantages. For example, the air conditioner is generally installed at a high position in a room. As a result, dismounting the filter is difficult and troublesome. Accordingly, the applicant has proposed air conditioners in which the work for cleaning the filter has been automated.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-28487 discloses, as an example, an air conditioner that includes, in a part of the interior unit, a box-shaped filter cleaning part (a dust box) having cleaning brushes. The dust box has two cleaning brushes for cleaning a front face of the filter (a side opposed to the air suction inlet), and one cleaning brush for cleaning a back face thereof (a side opposed to a heat exchanger), at three positions in total.
According to this related art air conditioner, by reciprocally moving the filter to and from the interior unit through the dust box, dust adhered to the filter will be scraped away by the cleaning brushes inside the dust box, and the scraped dust can be stored inside the cleaning part.
An inside of the interior unit of the air conditioner tends to become moist due to drain water generated from the heat exchanger. As a result, mold or the like forms therein. Therefore, antifungal and antimicrobial treatments are applied to the dust box. However, there is a problem in that only the dust in contact with an inner wall of the dust box can be sterilized, and substantially all of the dust collected in the dust box is not sterilized.